5 New Years Resolutions For A Clean Home

It's that time of year again - time to change any old bad habits, get healthy and get organised. A new year brings new beginnings so it's time to design a home that reflects the new you. By cleaning up and de-cluttering you can create bright, open spaces to start afresh so here's 5 New Years Resolutions to get you going.

DE-CLUTTER YOUR STORAGE SPACES If you're opening your closet and finding that it's packed full it's time to pull everything out and see what's in there. Once everything has been removed give the closet a clean out with a nice-smelling disinfectant. If you need to deodorise or reduce damp buy fresh new products to achieve this.

Now, take everything you've pulled out of the closet and sort it into three piles:1. Always use. 2. Sometimes use. 3. Never use.

Check the items in the 'never use' pile. If any of these are damaged or unusable throw them away. The other items can be recycled at your local charity shop.

Your 'sometimes use' pile is probably the largest. You'll need to be really critical here and split this pile into two. One pile contains any damaged, outdated or duplicated items. This pile will be going to recycling.

Pack all remaining items neatly back into your wardrobe. You may want to purchase some storage containers for this.

'SPRING' CLEANA 'spring' clean should be completed more often than once a year and ringing in the new year is a good time to clean your home thoroughly.

To get started have a bucket of hot soapy water and a container with your cleaning products and cloths. Begin in one room and clean everything you can see; blinds, windows and tracks, walls and furniture. Move furniture away from the wall and clean behind this. Open any drawers and cupboards and clean inside going through the de-clutter process if necessary.

In the kitchen, remove food items from the cupboards onto the bench and clean cupboard doors and shelving. Check food items for any expired dates and discard if old. Give your oven and fridge a good clean out too.

GO THROUGH OLD PAPERWORKIf you've got filing cabinets or storage containers full of old paperwork, now is a good time to go through this and see what you don't need. For example, in Australia you only need to keep tax receipts for seven years so if you find anything older than that date it can be thrown out. You may also want to file away receipts older than one year into a storage container so only the most recent paperwork is accessible.

Organise your paperwork into labelled folders or filing cabinets under headings like 'electricity', 'phone' and 'rates' etc or whatever headings work for you.

HOUSE MAINTENANCEIt's time to do all those small maintenance items around the home that you have been ignoring for months. If there is any damage around the home like broken appliances, blown lightbulbs or paint touch-ups that needs to be done now's the time to fix them.

Marks and holes can be fixed by taking a sample to your local paint retailer for a colour match. Fixing the small problems in your home will make you feel much better in your environment and help you focus on other aspects of your life.

GARDEN MAINTENANCEThe outside of your home needs attention too, particularly as it's the first thing you see when your arrive home. Make sure all hedges and plants are neatly cut back and the lawn is mowed. Time to get out and remove all weeds from your garden and maybe put a few extra plants in where needed. Add your favourite plant varities to your garden as a reward for all the hard work you're putting in.

Get a ladder and check the gutters for dead leaves. Remove all garden debris straight to the local tip once you have completed your work. Compost garden debris which can be recycled into mulch.